AI Visibility

Do customers really use AI to find local businesses?

Yes, and fast. In one year, AI went from a novelty to the third most-used way people find local businesses, past Yelp and TripAdvisor. But when someone asks, AI names only a tiny fraction of businesses. That gap is the whole story.

Get started free See how it works

Consumers using AI to find local businesses
BrightLocal, 2026

A year ago

45%

Today

Supporting every major AI assistant

ChatGPT

Claude

Gemini

Perplexity

Copilot

Grok

The short version

45% of consumers used AI to find a local business this past year, up from 6% — now the 3rd most-used source, behind Google and Facebook (BrightLocal, 2026).

It's not just young people, across demographics people are using AI to save time and feel more confident in their research on small businesses.

AI usually narrows the field to a few names, and accelerates the selection process. Depending on the purchase, most people still check reviews or other sources before deciding.

When asked, AI names only a small share of businesses. Focusing on the ones it has the most comprehensive and trustworthy information on.

Why it happened so fast

Hundreds of millions of people already ask AI

This isn't a fringe habit. The AI assistants your customers likely already use have the reach of the biggest platforms on the internet.

800M

weekly users on ChatGPT.
OpenAI, 2025

monthly users see Google's AI Overviews.
Google, 2025

34%

of US adults have used ChatGPT (58% under 30).
Pew Research, 2025

The catch

Customers are asking, but AI names only a few

The demand is here. The catch is that AI tends to only bring forward the businesses it understands well enough, and ranking on Google doesn't automatically carry over.

Very few get named

In one analysis of multi-location brands, ChatGPT recommended just 1.2% of locations (SOCi, 2026). The signal for any business: AI is highly selective about who it names.

Many restaurants absent

Many restaurants simply never come up when people ask AI for a recommendation.

SEO doesn't carry over

Ranking well on Google doesn't mean AI will mention you. The two often bring forward different businesses as AI is hyper personalized in its responses.

693%

year-over-year growth in generative-AI-driven traffic to US online retail sites last holiday season. That's e-commerce, not local-business referrals — but it's an early sign AI is starting to send real buying traffic, not just answer questions.
Adobe Analytics, 2026

Where Courtyard fits

Be one of the few AI can name

AI is increasingly the shortlist customers start from. Being on that shortlist for what they are specifically looking for is what's newly at stake and AI prioritizes the businesses that best match what the user is looking for. Which means AI needs to understand your business so that it knows whether you offer what they are looking for.

Courtyard helps make your business the most understood by AI. It gives assistants accurate, structured, detailed knowledge of your business, so AI is more likely to understand and describe you accurately instead of skipping you for a competitor it knows better.

No guarantee you'll be picked every time, that's not how AI works. But you can't be picked at all if AI doesn't understand you.

See how Courtyard works

AI suggests a shortlist

A few businesses, named directly

Reviews close the deal

Most AI users still check them

Courtyard

Helps you onto the shortlist

FAQ

Is this real yet?

Honest answers for a skeptical owner.

Isn't this just hype? Do people really pick a business because AI said so?

45% now use AI for local recommendations, up from 6% a year ago (BrightLocal, 2026), and many trust what it says. But most still cross-check reviews. So AI often narrows the options while reviews help people decide — either way, you want to be one of the names it lists.

Which customers actually use AI to find businesses?

Not just Gen Z. Plenty of working-age adults use it too, and 34% of all US adults have used ChatGPT (Pew Research, 2025). These are prime-spending customers.

Will this replace Google?

Not tomorrow. Google and Facebook are still the top two. AI is third and climbing fast — and winning Google doesn't automatically win AI, since the two often surface different businesses. Keep in mind both Google and Facebook are bringing forward AI into their search experiences.

My business already ranks well online. Doesn't that cover me?

No. When asked, AI recommends only a small fraction of businesses, and it can be harder to appear in than Google's local results.

What does Courtyard actually change?

It gives AI an accurate, up-to-date and detailed AI-readable knowledge of your business, so it's more likely to understand and bring you forward in relevant answers with potential customers.

Your customers are already asking AI

Make sure AI understands your business. Set up your live AI knowledge base in minutes. From $20/month.

Get started free